Tyne Tees managing director Graeme Thompson had described his stepping down as "the end of an era for television in the north-east".

Speaking to the BBC after he retired, Mr Neville explained he had no regrets about remaining in the North East.

"I actually hated working in London," he said. "Up here, it is like working with family."

As well as a lifetime achievement award from the Royal Television Society, he was awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting.

In 1989, Mr Neville received a "Gotcha" award from Noel Edmonds as part of Noel's Saturday Roadshow after being pranked into thinking he was filling several minutes of live air time because a technical fault had delayed the broadcast of the Wogan chat show.

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Mr Neville was tricked into believing he had seven minutes of air time to fill